“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” -- Dr. Wayne Dyer. Like Dyer once said, by changing one’s outlook on a certain topic, the outcome is changed in a drastic manner. It can be as simple as a different answer being discovered, or a new message is discovered and learned. In literature, author’s use a technique known as symbolism to convey certain thoughts, feelings, or messages to their intended audience. However, when an author uses symbolism, they do not say directly to the audience what the intended message is. Instead, most authors allow the setting to help convey the symbolism of the story and the underlying theme that the symbolism is trying to present. Symbolism can be present in any form of literature,…show more content… Before John left his village, he waited for a sign that would tell him to begin his journey. He waited until he saw the eagle flying east.”The sign was an eagle. It flew east.” Both the eagle and east possess forms of symbolism. The eagle is a bird of prey that was hunting for food, which represents John hunting for answers to his questions.. The direction east represents birth, and new beginnings. The eagle flying east alerted John that if he went west, death awaited him, as did his questions that would not be answered in that direction. Along with the eagle, another event occurred that symbolized John’s growth. On his journey he came across a white fawn that was attacked and killed by a black panther. “I did not even see the panther spring upon the white fawn.” The colors of these animals portray white as good, and black as bad. The panthers attack symbolized Good vs. Evil, and how evil slaughtered the good that was living in the world. Immediately after the fawn’s death, John shot the panther through the eye with an arrow. “It is not easy to kill a panther with one arrow but the arrow went through his eye and into his brain.” In symbolism, eyes are windows to the soul. John shooting the panther through the eye showed that he was killing the evil that resided in the panthers soul that could have slaughtered John. The events that happened during John’s journey symbolized his growth by him hunting for answers in the directions of new beginnings and his knowledge that not even good can stop evil at
